SCAN Health Plan and Costco are partnering to launch a suite of insurance products focused on seniors, the companies announced on Tuesday.
SCAN is a non-profit Medicare Advantage insurer serving 460,000 members across California, Arizona, Nevada, Texas, New Mexico and Washington. This is Costco’s first comprehensive partnership with a Medicare plan, according to the announcement.
Through the partnership, which was first reported on by the Wall Street Journal, the companies will sell jointly branded Medicare Advantage products in two states and a Medicare supplement in a third state, though the companies did not say which markets. These products are subject to regulatory approval.
“For more than 40 years, Costco has consistently listened to our Members and earned their trust delivering consistent value on essential goods and expanding our health service offerings,” said Ron Vachris, CEO of Costco, in a statement. “Selecting SCAN as our partner to deliver a better healthcare experience for seniors, is an extension of that commitment. We have developed a shared understanding of what matters most to the seniors we serve. Deepening our partnership allows us to build on that foundation and create value for our Members.”
The companies may also bring offerings in the coming years that include a “re-invented pharmacy experience,” over-the-counter benefits, vision, audiology and more.
According to SCAN’s CEO, Costco is a trusted brand among seniors, which is why the insurer chose to partner with the company.
“If you think about the kinds of things that seniors go to Costco for, they go there for groceries, they go there for over-the-counter supplies, they go there for pharmacy, they go there for vision, they go there for hearing aids,” said Dr. Sachin Jain, CEO of SCAN Group and SCAN Health Plan, in an interview. “They have a high degree of trust in all of those categories of products. … I think we really want to take the things that Costco is already outstanding at and make them available through a Medicare Advantage or Medicare Supplement chassis.”
He added that this is SCAN’s first incursion into Medicare supplements.
“Our goal is to keep seniors healthy and independent,” he said. “I think there’s a whole segment of consumers that we have not touched because they choose to stay with traditional Medicare with a supplement, and so this is a big strategic move for us in that we’re now in a completely new category of product.”
This partnership comes after SCAN launched the “Health Insurance is Broken Campaign” last year. The first step to fixing a broken industry is “acknowledging that it’s broken,” Jain said.
“Too many people in healthcare hide behind, ‘Oh, the whole system is broken,’ and don’t look at the things that they can do to fix it themselves for their members, for their beneficiaries. I think that’s the opportunity we have with Costco,” he declared.
Photo: mikdam, Getty Images
